Restoring AlUla’s natural balance, advancing sustainable desert tourism

MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON/OTTAWA: US President Donald Trump suspended his threat of steep tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Monday, agreeing to a 30-day pause in return for concessions on border and crime enforcement with the two neighboring countries.
US tariffs on China are still due to take effect within hours.
Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they had agreed to bolster border enforcement efforts in response to Trump’s demand to crack down on immigration and drug smuggling. That would pause 25 percent tariffs due to take effect on Tuesday for 30 days.
Canada agreed to deploy new technology and personnel along its border with the United States and launch cooperative efforts to fight organized crime, fentanyl smuggling and money laundering.
Mexico agreed to reinforce its northern border with 10,000 National Guard members to stem the flow of illegal migration and drugs.
The United States also made a commitment to prevent trafficking of high-powered weapons to Mexico, Sheinbaum said.

“As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that. I am very pleased with this initial outcome,” Trump said on social media.
The agreements forestall, for now, the onset of a trade war that economists predicted would damage the economies of all involved and usher in higher prices for consumers.
After speaking by phone with both leaders, Trump said he would try to negotiate economic agreements over the coming month with the two largest US trading partners, whose economies have become tightly intertwined with the United States since a landmark free-trade deal was struck in the 1990s.

CHINA TARIFFS STILL PLANNED
No such deal has emerged for China, which faces across-the-board tariffs of 10 percent that are poised to begin at 12:01 a.m. ET on Tuesday (0501 GMT). A White House spokesperson said Trump would not be speaking with Chinese President Xi Jinping until later in the week.
Trump warned he might increase tariffs on Beijing further.
“China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl, and if they’re not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher,” he said.
China has called fentanyl America’s problem and said it would challenge the tariffs at the World Trade Organization and take other countermeasures, but also left the door open for talks.
The latest twist in the saga sent the Canadian dollar soaring after slumping to its lowest in more than two decades. The news also gave US stock index futures a lift after a day of losses on Wall Street.
Industry groups, fearful of disrupted supply chains, welcomed the pause.
“That’s very encouraging news,” said Chris Davison, who heads a trade group of Canadian canola producers. “We have a highly integrated industry that benefits both countries.”
Trump suggested on Sunday the 27-nation European Union would be his next target, but did not say when.
EU leaders at an informal summit in Brussels on Monday said Europe would be prepared to fight back if the US imposes tariffs, but also called for reason and negotiation. The US is the EU’s largest trade and investment partner.
Trump hinted that Britain, which left the EU in 2020, might be spared tariffs.
Trump acknowledged over the weekend that his tariffs could cause some short-term pain for US consumers, but says they are needed to curb immigration and narcotics trafficking and spur domestic industries.
The tariffs as originally planned would cover almost half of all US imports and would require the United States to more than double its own manufacturing output to cover the gap — an unfeasible task in the near term, ING analysts wrote.
Other analysts said the tariffs could throw Canada and Mexico into recession and trigger “stagflation” — high inflation, stagnant growth and elevated unemployment — at home.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan threatened to deport Afghan refugees awaiting relocation unless their cases are swiftly processed by host governments, officials said Monday.
Tens of thousands of Afghans fled to neighboring Pakistan after the Taliban took over in 2021 and were approved for resettlement in the US through a program that helps people at risk because of their work with the American government, media, aid agencies and rights groups. However, after US President Donald Trump paused US refugee programs last month, around 20,000 Afghans are now in limbo in Pakistan.
The Trump administration also announced the US Refugee Admissions Program would be suspended from Jan. 27 for at least three months, fueling concerns amid Pakistani authorities.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided last week that the refugees would be deported back to Afghanistan unless their cases were processed quickly, according to two security officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media on the record.
The two also said March 31 has been set as a deadline to expel Afghan refugees from the capital, Islamabad, and the nearby city of Rawalpindi in preparation for their deportation if they are not relocated to their host countries.
There was no immediate response from Pakistan’s ministry of foreign affairs.
News about forced deportations has panicked many Afghan nationals who fear for their lives if sent back home.
Ahmad Shah, a member of the Afghan US Refugee Admission Program advocacy group, told The Associated Press that the latest decision by Pakistan comes at a very critical time as Afghan refugees in general and those seeking resettlement are already under emotional stress and trauma.
He asked Pakistan to seek answers from the United States and other countries “if and when they will begin completing the process” for their relocation.
“We appeal to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif not to be deported like this,” said Khalid Khan who has been waiting for relocation to the United States since 2023.
Khan said some Afghans prepared to leave Islamabad and move to other cities to avoid arrest. He also urged the host countries to expedite their cases.
Another Afghan refugee who lives in Islamabad with his family, and who refused to be identified because he is worried about the Taliban reprisals and arrest by Pakistan, urged Trump to revive the refugee program “in the name of humanity.”
Besides those living in Pakistan and the thousands awaiting travel to host countries, there are around 1.45 million Afghan nationals registered with UNHCR as refugees. Their stay has been extended until June.
Pakistan started a crackdown on foreigners who are in the country without proper documentation in November 2023. An estimated 800,000 Afghans have either gone back voluntarily or been deported since despite criticism from UN agencies, rights groups and the Taliban.
The two officials said the crackdown will continue in the coming months.
Last month, Amnesty International expressed its concern over “reports of arbitrary detention and harassment of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers by law enforcement agencies in Islamabad.”